Portland Lumber Mills

In the Matter of PORTLAND LUMBER MILLS and LUMBER AND SAW- MILL WORKERS UNION, LOCAL No. 2880, CHARTERED BY UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA , AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR Case No. R-1153 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND SUPPLEMENTAL DIRECTION August 29, 1939 On April 11, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled case., The Direction of Election directed that an election by secret ballot be conducted within twenty (20) days from the date of the Direction of Election among all plant and pro- duction employees employed by Portland Lumber Mills during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of said Direction of Elec- tion, excluding office employees, foremen, and other supervisory em- ployees, to determine whether they desired to be represented by Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 2880, chartered by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, herein called Local No. 2880, affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor, or by Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local No. 3, International Woodworkers of America, herein called Local No. 3, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. Pursuant to the Direction, an election by secret ballot was con- ducted on April 28, 1939, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Wash- ington). On May 23, 1939, the said Regional Director, acting pur- suant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, issued and duly served upon the parties an Intermediate Report upon the secret ballot. 12 N. L. R. B. 209. 14 N. L. R. B., No. 93. 1173 1174 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD As to the balloting and its results, the Regional Director reported as follows : Total number of eligible voters__ __________________________ :170 Total number of ballots cast______________________________ 167 Total number of valid ballots cast________________________ 162 Total number of votes in favor of Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union, Local No. 2880, chartered by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America______ 82 Total number of votes in favor of Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union, Local No. 3, International Woodworkers of America--------------------------------------------- 79 Total number of votes for neither_________________________ 1 Total number of blank ballots____________________________ 0 Total number of void ballots______________________________ Total number of challenged votes ------------------------ Total number of challenged votes sustained------ 5 Total number of challenged votes disallowed----- 3 Total number of eligible voters not voting_ ________________ 3 Each of the eight challenges was made by Local No. 3 on the ground that the employee challenged was not eligible to vote be- cause he was a supervisory employee within the meaning of the Direction of Election. In his Intermediate Report the Regional Director sustained the challenges with respect to Richard Kinnear, yard man, W. E. Lees, head millwright, John Martinson, dock re- pairman, C. R. Rudesill, head filer, and R. A. Smith, engineer. He ruled that R. Buddee, blacksmith, Roy Soumie, planerman, and R. B. Stone, carrier mechanic, were eligible to vote, counted their ballots and embodied their votes in the tabulation set forth above. Thereafter Local No. 3 duly filed exceptions to the rulings of the Regional Director's Intermediate Report with respect to R. Buddee, Roy Soumie, and R. B. Stone and filed objections to the conduct of the ballot. Local No. 2880 filed a brief in support of the Regional Director's rulings on the challenges of Buddee, Soumie, and Stone and filed exceptions to his rulings with respect to Richard. Kinnear, W. E. Lees, John Martinson, and R. A. Smith.2 Local No. 2880 also filed an alternative motion to reopen the case. In Section V of its Decision and Direction of Election,8 issued on April 11, 1939, the Board discussed the question concerning the appropriate unit and found certain facts in respect thereto. In accordance with these findings we excluded "office employees, fore- men, and other supervisory employees" from the unit and hence from participation in the ballot. The challenges tinder considera- tion require that we construe this language of the Direction. We think it is clear from the record of the hearing upon which our 2 Local No. 2880 took no exception to the ruling of the Regional Director sustaining the challenge of Local No. 3 with respect to C. R. Rudesill on the ground that he was a supervisory employee. ' See footnote 1, supra. PORTLAND LUMBER MILLS 1175 findings and direction were based and from the discussion in our Decision that the only supervisory employees excluded from the unit were foremen, and supervisory employees of rank equal to or higher than foremen.4 Applying the Direction of Election as properly interpreted to the facts found by the Regional Director in his Intermediate Report, we conclude that R. Buddee, Roy Soumie, R. B. Stone, Richard Kinnear, and John Martinson were eligible to vote. Objections to W. E. Lees, R. A. Smith, and C. R. Rudesill who exercise the same supervisory authority as foremen were properly sustained. We find that the objection to the ballot, based upon the alleged distribution of union literature by Richard Kinnear, does not raise a material and substantial issue with respect to the conduct of the ballot. Accordingly the objection to the ballot and the exceptions to the Intermediate -Report filed by Local No. 3 are hereby over- ruled. The exceptions to the Intermediate Report filed by Local No. 2880 are sustained with respect to the rulings on Richard Kin- near and John Martinson, but overruled with respect to W. E. Lees and R. A. Smith. The motion of Local No. 2880 to reopen the case is hereby denied. On the basis of the entire record in the proceedings the Board makes the following : DIRECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 2, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation directed by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargain- ing with Portland Lumber Mills, the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region (Seattle, Washington), shall, pursuant to the rulings of the Board set forth above, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction, open and count the ballots of Richard Kinnear and John Martinson, and shall thereafter prepare and cause to be served upon the parties in this case his Amended Intermediate Report embodying his findings thereon and his recommendations as to the results of the secret ballot. 4 The exclusion was in accordance with, and predicated upon , the express desire of Local No. 3 , the organization which asked to have foremen excluded from the unit. At the original hearing, the president of Local No. 3 named the five supervisory employees whom Local No. 3 contended should not be included within the appropriate unit. Only R. A. Smith and W. E. Lees of the employees whose ballots were challenged were objected to by the president of Local No . 3 as supervisory employees. 190935-40-vol. 14-75